Showing results by author "Andrew Christopher" in All Categories

The history of espionage is far older than any of today's intelligence agencies, yet the long history of intelligence operations has been largely forgotten. The codebreakers at Bletchley Park, the most successful World War II intelligence agency, were completely unaware that their predecessors in earlier moments of national crisis had broken the codes of Napoleon during the Napoleonic wars and those of Spain before the Spanish Armada.

In these globally unprecedented times, Ed is also experiencing new and unusual circumstances. For the first time in 20 years, he's financially independent thanks to the timely arrival of his state pension, and living in a stylish, newly affordable 'capsule urban living unit' (a former office space converted into a flat). He has the luxury of three (organic) meals a day, all the premier catfood Edgar can eat, and even a new car - as well as free time to devote himself to his own long-cherished projects.

Author, pipe-smoker, fare-dodger and master of the complaining letter and abusive email, Ed Reardon returns for another four series. Despite many thwarted attempts at literary succes, he's still living a precarious existence with his trusty companion Elgar, reliant on any small morsels of work Ping can offer him to keep body, mind and cat together. He also continues to have regular run-ins with his nemesis, Jaz Milvane—who somehow manages to make money out of mad schemes, while Ed makes nothing—and his love life remains more than a little erratic.

Welcome to the world of Ed Reardon, writer and liver of life at the cutting edge—well, above The Cutting Edge, in a one-bedroom flat over a hairdresser's in Berkhamsted that he shares with his his trusty feline companion, Elgar. Divorced, impoverished and embittered, he spends his time penny-pinching, freeloading and ranting at the modern world and the 'moronic 12-year-olds' who run the media. 

Author, curmudgeon and master of the complaining letter and the abusive email Ed Reardon is back for a 15th series. Further thoughts on the world from the much loved (if flawed) writer perpetually on the brink of the breadline. Will he take a chance on success, or stay in his cosy, rather fetid rut? Hope springs eternal.

In these 34 intriguing episodes, leading historian Christopher Andrew rewrites history, considering what might have transpired if pivotal events had turned out differently. By altering a single, plausible fact, he explores alternative futures where the Spanish Armada landed on English soil, Pontius Pilate freed Jesus, the Nazis occupied Britain and many more.

Curmudgeonly author Ed Reardon is back - the author, pipe smoker, consummate fare dodger and master of the abusive email attempts to survive in a world where the media seems to be run by idiots and lying charlatans. In these six episodes, Ed and Elgar return to London (from their failed jaunt living in a shepherd's hut in the country) destitute and on the lookout for a new roof over their respective heads, where he bumps into Geoff Daytona - a rich, successful entrepreneur and motivational speaker Ed was at school with....

Freeloading freelancer Ed Reardon is back, and still trying to survive in a world where the media seems to be run by idiots and lying charlatans. Success continues to eludes him, but at least he can eke out a living teaching creative writing, condensing modern classics and doing a spot of celebrity ghostwriting.

Watching the Jackals is the untold history of Czechoslovakia's complex relations with Middle Eastern terrorists and revolutionaries during the closing decades of the Cold War. Richterova unveils the story of Prague's engagement with various factions of the Palestine Liberation Organization, along with some of the era's most infamous terrorists.

Five exciting novelisations of classic TV stories in which the Doctor and his companions encounter a colourful assortment of aliens. In Doctor Who and the Carnival of Monsters the TARDIS appears to land in the Indian Ocean, but something is very wrong. Here lie Drashigs... Doctor Who and the...

Throughout history, there has been a consistent crossover between show business and espionage, often producing some of the most extraordinary undercover agents, and occasionally leading to disastrous and dangerous failures. The fact that one relies on publicity and the other on secrecy might seem to rule out a successful symbiosis, but as both require high levels of creative thinking, improvisation, disguise and role-play, they inevitably attract some remarkably similar personalities. Stars and Spies is the first history of the interplay between the two worlds.

An unprecedented publishing event: to mark the centenary of its foundation, the British Security Service, MI5, has for the first time opened its archives to an independent historian. The book reveals the precise role of the Security Service in twentieth-century British history, from its...

Frequently, when a trial hits us, we don’t just suffer from the trial itself. We suffer even more because the trial threatens to rob us of our sense of identity. For example, if a ship sinks in the ocean, its surviving captain suffers not only from the accident, he also suffers from having a marred identity as a failed captain. More than even the shipwreck, this new identity can very effectively prevent him from leading again.

"“It goes against everything I believe, but I just can’t keep this baby, Al.” Jen said after a long, deep sigh. Al knew that Jen Wolansky was facing insurmountable problems—everything in her family was falling apart and it was up to Jen alone to hold things together. An unexpected pregnancy was the last thing she needed. How could Pastor Al help Jen lead her family in a different direction? Did Al, or Jen, have the maturity for this?

Clarke has had a rough week. His girlfriend told him it was over, his drug dealer is trying to kill him, and he's being followed by that nasty bird everywhere he goes. Now, he's hell-bent on settling the score and teaching every last one of them that he's not a man to be taken lightly, especially the beady-eyed pigeon that has taken more from him than his pride.

Welcome to the Dream Parlor. You are now entering a world of pure imagination, a realm of lucid dreams. Journey to the summit of your greatest hopes. Explore your most primitive desires. At the Parlor, you can be everything you want. Go anywhere. Do anything. No questions asked. All it costs is your soul.

 Rethinking American Grand Strategy assembles a roster of leading historians to examine America's place in the world. Its innovative chapters reexamine familiar figures, such as John Quincy Adams, George Kennan, and Henry Kissinger, while also revealing the forgotten episodes and hidden voices of American grand strategy. They expand the scope of diplomatic and military history by placing the grand strategies of public health, race, gender, humanitarianism, and the law alongside military and diplomatic affairs to reveal hidden strategists as well as strategies. 

An everyday-life podcast. AC talks music, trauma, healing, healthy practices, and....life, stuff.

There is no shortage of rules, or opinions, coming at us. In a time when we are inundated with constant and deafening influence, how can we find ourselves, our own opinions, amidst the chaos? These rules of the road have been handed down to us generation after generation. Respectfully, we are here to challenge all of them. Join Andrew and Chris once a week in questioning everything. Because the only rule to life, is that there are, no rules to life.

“Meester Volansky, how you say in English? In Ukrainian, we say it like when person live in house. Jesus is my house. I live in Him . . . Because Jesus is like my house . . . I has hope!” Where did Diana get her hope? Somehow, despite the horror of the moment in which the Wolansky family found themselves, and despite whatever horrors Diana had faced in her past over her own children, she seemed to have enough hope to calm everyone else down and to take charge of the situation. Where did she get that capacity? Could Petr and Jen find this type of hope to endure?